Are we overtreating early colorectal cancer?
Event details
- Date: Monday 9 June 2025
- Time: 2-3pm
- Who's it for: Colorectal clinical nurse specialists, endoscopists, specialist screening practitioners and surgeons
- Where: online via Zoom
Session details
How we manage early bowel cancer is an important issue in the colorectal cancer landscape. Risk management strategies including polyp surveillance, microsurgery and colorectal resection. Communicating risk of recurrence and management options is often challenging. Full resection may not always be necessary, carrying with it a surgical morbidity and resultant quality of life impact. This raises the question of if we may be overtreating this population of patients. This session will address the management of early colorectal cancer, cancer follow-up and communication of risk. It will also draw from the personal experience of an individual having had an early colorectal cancer to enrich understanding of this issue from a patient perspective.
Session learning outcomes:
This session will equip learners with an understanding of:
- Current management of early colorectal cancer and follow-up
- Framing a conversation regarding the complexity of decisions for patients
- Understanding the patient experience in polyp cancer management
About the speakers
Mr Doug Speake MBChB, BSc, MD, FRCS, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon, NHS Research Scotland Clinician, Western General Hospital Edinburgh, Honorary Clinical Lecturer University of Edinburgh
Doug is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh. He has a special interest in the management of early colorectal cancer and hereditary syndromes predisposing to colorectal cancer. In Edinburgh he has set up the first colorectal robotic programme with the Versius (CMR) platform globally and the early rectal cancer service. He has recruited to multiple surgical trials and developed his own funded trial to explore a new drug to treat fissure in ano. He is an NHS Research Scotland Clinician and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.
Linda Sherwood, Team Lead, Colorectal Cancer Nursing Service, NHS Lothian
Linda Sherwood is Team lead for the Colorectal Cancer CNS service in Lothian. Linda is a member of the NCCNN Advisory Group for Bowel Cancer UK and is a board member of the UK Oncology Nursing Society. Her PhD has given her a special interest in how hope is fostered in complex decision making where risk and uncertainty are apparent.
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